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Veteran

Staff Sgt. Timothy Bowen said he built his career by honing his craft. For the past eight years, Bowen served in the U.S. Army and National Guard, including one year in Iraq. Bowen’s dedication continued as a materials science and engineering major at Penn State. While earning his degree, he worked at the Applied Research Lab and appeared on the dean’s list six times. Bowen is the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Adult Student Award.

Penn State’s Military Appreciation website has moved to militaryappreciation.psu.edu. The site is home to information for students, faculty, staff and community members about military appreciation events at the University, as well as resources for Penn State service members and veterans.

Dan Steiner knows a thing or two about assessing terrain, gathering knowledge sources and weighing human interactions — all things required in the field of geospatial intelligence — on the fly. The West Point graduate who served for seven years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including leading an engineering company in combat during Operation Desert Storm, spent his life using these skills, first in the military, then for a pharmaceutical company, and currently for Orion Mapping, a geospatial intelligence business he founded three years ago.

Nathan Nihiser has traveled a long and windy road that led him to cross the stage of commencement, graduating cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in electro-mechanical engineering technology from Penn State Berks this spring.

Christy Grim quit her job to take an internship she hoped would lead to a career in IT, and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Fritz wanted to pursue his interest in sustainability. Both chose Penn State World Campus to learn the skills they needed to make career changes.

U.S. Marine Staff Sergeant Bryan Smith, a senior majoring in criminology, is the recipient of the 2016 Penn State Outstanding Adult Student Award. Smith—a native of Crestview, Fla.—was deployed for two years in Iraq before being accepted into the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Educational Program (MECEP). The program allows Smith to remain on active duty while being enrolled as a full-time student at University Park. Upon completion of his degree, he will be commissioned as a second lieutenant. Smith is a married father of two young children, serves as an adviser and trainer in the Navy ROTC program and is a volunteer in the State College community.

The Student Veterans of America–Penn State Berks Chapter will sponsor a Veterans Day program at 1 p.m. Nov. 11 in the Multipurpose Room of the Perkins Student Center at Penn State Berks. This event is free and open to the public, but attendees must register by Nov. 6. The program will begin with the singing of the national anthem by Penn State Berks student Jocelyn Vargas. Navy veteran Myrtle L. Council will deliver the keynote address.

Student veterans interested in exploring educational options in the Lehigh Valley are invited to attend Education Leads to Employment presented by A's for Vets on Nov. 7, at Northampton Community College.

Adult students can benefit from the resources available in the new Center for Adult Learners at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. The Center for Adult Learners was recently established to provide a range of services for adults considering first-time college enrollment or for adults returned to the college classroom after being away for a period of time.

The Penn State community was saddened to learn of the loss of one of its own recently. Maj. Sam Griffith, a 1997 alumnus, was killed in the line of duty Dec. 14, while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

More than 3,100 veteran and active-duty military students are using their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to earn degrees at Penn State as of spring 2011, a 21 percent increase over last year. As more troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan, this enrollment trend is likely to continue. To help faculty and staff who work with these students better understand and support their needs, a University-wide team has created five Best Practices in the Recruitment and Retention of Student Veterans programs.

G.I. Jobs magazine has designated Penn State a military-friendly school for 2012. It is the third straight time the Pittsburgh-based publication has recognized the University's programs and services designed specifically to help active-duty military service-members and veterans pursue an education online through Penn State's World Campus.

This Saturday, 70 years after he started his undergraduate degree at Penn State, 88-year-old Charles J. Kasales will receive his diploma. Kasales, a retired physician and U.S. Navy medical officer who attended Penn State's School of Chemistry and Physics from 1940 to 1942, will be awarded a premedicine degree at the University's fall commencement on Dec. 18 at the Bryce Jordan Center. Kasales is one of many students who left Penn State during World War II when it was possible to enter medical school without an undergraduate degree. A careful review of his transcripts has determined that he completed all the necessary courses and credits to complete his undergraduate degree.